30 per cent of pharmaceuticals in local markets found to be illegal

Around 20 to 30 per cent of pharmaceutical drugs which are illegally imported through the border were found in local markets, according to a report in the Myawady Daily yesterday.
When importers brought the medicines into the country the import document showed only a few medicine, and customs officials did not have enough time to check all the medicines, said Dr. Saw Nay Nwe, Deputy Managing Director of AA Medical Products.
Moreover, people also import counterfeit drugs into the country. Certain pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines have to be kept at certain temperatures and therefore the drugs have to be transported with cold boxes in refrigerated trucks.
Currently, Myanmar imports about 85 per cent of its drugs from foreign countries, it is learnt.—GNLM